Camping bed



June 16, 1931. E, E. FREY CAMPING BED Filed Oct. 4, 1927 INVENTOR.

Patented June 16, 1931.

l,8l0,3li.

' ELMEE El FRE Y, OF LOS .ANGELES, CALIFORNIA oniirme BED if Thisinvention relates-to camping beds and the principal object is to providean improved structure which is readily capable of beingextended'andcollapsed, at will, for

i 6 rendering the bed tive, respectively.

A more particular object is'toprovidea collapsible bed embodying afabricated Wire mattress, a collapsible frame for holding I "f '10. themattress in tension when the bedis in use, and means-for adjustabletensioning the mattress to meet varylng conditions of use.

- I am well aware that camping beds embodying collapsible frames andtension mattresses have beenextensively used and are old inthe 'art,,but:I have provided and;

will hereafter describe an improved type of frame particularly adaptedto support the mattressin tension, together with means for readilymattress.- V r V In the practice of my invention I have eliminated allsuperfluous parts and conadjusting the tension of said "$1 nections andhave sought to provide a simplified structure which,when extended foruse with the: mattress in tension, will provide a rigid frame-capable ofsustaining substantially heavy out damage-thereto. 7

Other objects may appear as the description progresses. j p I e I I haveshown in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment ofmy'invenscope'of the appended claims, without departing from thespiritthereof.

In said drawings: r v

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of vmy improved'camping bed assembled andextended for use Fig.- 2 is a perspective view of the bed framepartially collapsed with the mattress removed therefrom.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bed frame completely collapsed andarranged in a compact unit.

. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view ofone corner of the bed frameshowing the operative andinoperaweights on the bed Wit11-.

tion, subject to modification within the the sides of the legs when thelegs are po- Appfication' filed 0ctober 4, 1927. Serial No. 223,963.

details of structure and connections between the several, parts.

F ig. 5 is a perspective view, of the .mat-

.tress folded into a compact package.

Briefly described my improved bed includes a fabricated wire springmattress M of well known form, having end rails E, E secured thereto,legs L, Letc. at the corners, side rails R and R etc. connecting thelegs longitudinally and suitable cross braces as at .B and B. and Z2andb. The legs and side rails. are preferably formed of channeled iron,as clearly illustrated in the drawings, in order to afford maximumrigidity and strength. The channels ofthe legs are turned inwardly whilethe channels of'the side rails are turned. downwardly.

g Each of the side rails is composed of a pair of channeledsections Rand R which are pivoted together at a point B inwardly of the inner endof the sections R.- The sectionsR may be of smaller cross sectionaldimensions than the rails B so that the inner ends ofthe smaller railswill telescope into the channels of the lar errails R. The ends 1" onbothof the sections It and R are bifurcated and the webs of the sectionsat the ends of the rail sections overlie the opposite sides of the legsL. The bifur cated ends of rails arepivotally connected with thelegs Lby means of bolts or rivets 7 RI: and R are cut away so that thefurcations '2" The outer ends of the furcations are preferably bentinwardly so as" to slightly I overlie the outer web portions of thelegs, as shown inv Fig. 4. Thus, when the legs are swung ,on the rails Rand R the fur-cations 'I' will spring outwardly so that the inwardlybent edges thereof will frictionally engage sitioned vertically withrespect to the side rails, as shown in Fig. 4. The inwardly bent ends ofthe furcations 1' will serve to holdthe legs temporarily in the positionshown while themattress M is being positioned thereon.

The siderail sections R and R are provided with tensioning devicesfor-the mat- I tress lM, each of which devices includes a pair ofmembers D and D. The'member raised and lowered.

D is of J shape with the bent portion thereof overlying the railsections R and R and pivotally connected therewith by means of bolts orrivets cl. Member D is provided with a downwardly directed arm (Z1 whichmay have a lug (Z2 formed on the lower end thereof by means of whichsaid arm may be The member D is of channeled cross section and ispivoted to the upper bent portion of the member D on a bolt or rivet d.Member D has its opposite flanges gradually decreasing in width from itslower end to the upper end (13 thereof, and said upper end is adapted tofrictionally engage one of a series of notches (54 which are formed onthe inner edges of the legs L near the upper ends of the legs. When themattress is in tension the heels d6 of the members D will frictionallyengage the upper sides of the rail sections R and R while the webs ofsaid members will engage the bent portions (Z5 of the members D.

The legs L are provided with tongues E1 which are bent outwardly fromthe webs of the legs and are adapted to engage apertures 6 formed in thevertical flanges e of the mattress rails E. The mattress M is attachedto the horizontal flanges 01 of the rails E and when it is operativelypositioned on the frame it will be held'against lateral movement bymeans of the tongues E1 while the flanges 61 will rest upon the upperends of the legs L, L etc. Said legs are transversely connected in pairsat the ends of the bed by means of diagonal braces B and B which arepivotally connected at their upper ends, respectively, to thetransversely spaced legs and are pivotally connected. together centrallyof the legs at points B1.

The long brace sections B and B are provided at their lower ends withshort sec-- tions b and b, respectively. Thesection b is pivotallyconnected at B2 to the lower end of the section B at its inner end andis (pivotally connected at B4- at its outer en to the lower portion ofone of the pair of legs L. In a similar manner the sections B arepivoted at their inner ends as at B5, with the lower ends of thesections B while the outer ends thereof are connected as at B6, with thelower portions of the opposite legs L.

Thus, as shown in Fig. 1, the toggle joints between the two pairs oflegs may be broken in order that the frame may be collapsed, and theopposite legs L, L may be moved into substantially abutting positions,as as shown in Fig. 3. In this connection it will be noted that the railsections R, as shown in Fig. 2, swing in a clock-wise direction and foldinto the channels of the sections R. Also the legs L fold inwardly intothe channels of the sections R and R. The members D of the tensioningunits fold downwardly against the webs of the said rails while themembers D of said units are swung upwardly into substantial parallelismwith the members D.

When the bed is extended for use, with the mattress M in tensionthereon, the members D serve as angular braces for adjustably connectingthe side rails and the legs.

In such case the tension of the mattress serves to pull the upperportions of the legs inwardly, thus causing a thrust of the braces Ddownwardly at angles against the rails R and R. The overlappingarrangement of the sections of the side rails causes the inner ends ofthe sections R to bear downwardly against the inner ends of the sectionsR The members D are supported in position, when the mattress is intension, by the movement of the members D downwardly so that thefulcrums d will be below a line cutting the axes of the pivots d, andthe upper ends d3 of each of the tensionin units. The tension of themattress wi l exert pressure downwardly on the members D to prevent theaccidental breakingof the toggle joints between the members D and D.

In operation, when the bed frame and mattress are collapsed into compactbundles or packages, as shown in Figs. '3 and 5, re speetively, theframe is swinging the sections R of the side rails outwardly intolongitudinal alinement with the sections R, whereupon the two side railsmay be drawn apart so as to move the end braces Bb and Bb intolongitudinal alinement, for properly spacing the pairs of legs L, L atthe ends of the bed frame, as shown in Fig. 1.

Thereafter, or the legs L may be swung into substantially rightangularpositions with respect to the sections R and R on the side rail, inwhich positions the legs will be temporarily held within the bifurcatedend portions r of the 7 side rails. The tensioning units may then beoperated for connecting the upper ends of the members D with one of thenotches (Z4 in each of the legs, the members D being swung downwardly,as shown in Fig. 4, for

maintaining such connections. I

The mattress M, is then positioned on the upper ends of the legs L whilethe end rails E, E are pulled outwardly over the ends of the legs andthe tongues E1 are forced into the apertures 6. Usually the mattress isattached to the legs, and subsequently the tensioning units may beoperated for engaging the portions (Z3 of said units with selectednotches in the legs L for suitably tensioning the mattress. 7

What I claim is: 1. A folding bed comprising side rails, legs pivoted atpoints intermediate their ends to the side rails, means on the'upperends of the legs for supporting a mattress,

extended, fir y before, as may be-desired levers havingcU shapedattaching portions pivoted to and inwardly of the endsof the side rails,channeled arms eccentrically pivoted to said levers, cooperating meanson the upper ends of said legs and said arms whereby the same may beadjustably engaged, said levers being operable for moving said arms inopposite directions over dead center position for supporting said armsin locked and unlocked position, the lower ends of said arms abuttingsaid side rails when the arms and legs are in locked position.

2. A folding ,bed comprising side rails, legs pivoted, at pointsintermediate their o ends to said side rails, means thereon forsupporting a mattress 1n position for'use,

and tensioning devices for connecting said legs and said side rails forholding said mat- 1 tress in tension, said devices including leverspivoted for movement in vertical planes on and inwardly of the ends ofthe side rails, toggle arms pivoted to and at points spaced from theaxes of said levers, cooperating c means on the upper portions of saidlegs and c said arms, whereby said legs and said arms may be adjustablyengaged, said levers being operable for movingsaid arms over dead centerposition for adjustably tensioning said mattress, the lower ends of saidarms abutting said rails when locked in tensioning position.

and legs for holding a mattress in tension when the free ends of saidlevers are moved downwardly, and the axes of the arms are moved overdead center positions, the lower ends of said arms abutting said railswhen the arms are in locked positions.

ELMER E. FREY;

3. A folding bed including a pair of side rails, legs pivoted at pointsintermediate their ends to the ends of said side rails,

means on the upper ends of said legs for supporting a mattress inposition for use, and toggle means pivotally attached to andinwardlyofthe ends of said side rails for,

holding saidmattress in tension, said means including sets of arms andlevers movable in vertical planes, theleverofeach set being pivoted to,a. side rail and the arm of each set being eccentrically connected withthe associate lever, cooperatingmeans, on the upper ends of said legsand said arms whereby the same may be adjustably engaged, I

said tensioning devices ,being'operable for moving the axis of the armsover dead center of the levers in a tensioning operation, the lower.ends of said arms abutting said rails when the arms are in lockedpositions. 4. A folding bed comprising side rails,

legs pivotally attached at points intermediate their ends to said siderails, means on said legs forsupporting a mattress, tension-

